did any good deal you want to make the other guy look good as much as you. ronald reagan said 80% is better than none at all. he was a pretty good president if memory serves me right. good night. would you rather depend on? private business or big@ government? and don't make another trade in the stock market until you hear our report. welcome to "the willis report." in europe, governments that have

already gone over the the fiscal cliff. as president obama goaded congress today to make him ake up his offer on higher taxes. a wave of new protests swept through europe. governments have already failed their people. that is the choice we face tonight. either our elected officials bring order to our economy, or there wouldn't be any economy to worry about. as the president spoke today, the markets took a dive down 185 points. the dow jones is down nearly 700 points in the last six trading days since president obama was reelected. the nasdaq in a correction of nearly two thirds of the market also and correction teitory. it down more than 10% from recent highs. the markets seem to think that we have had over the fiscal cliff. what did people haveo say to have the pow to stop it? let's ask republican congressman tim huelskamp. welcome to the show, congressman. we definitely want to talk to you about the president's speech today. he said he is ready for

compromise. here is the president. >> i am open to compromise and i'm open to new ideas. i have been encouraged over the past week your republican after republican to agree on the need for more revenue from the wealthiest americans as part of our arithmetic if we are going to be serious about reducing the deficit. gerri: president says he is ready to compromise. >> he is always talking about that you to 3%, and many those are the small businesses that create jobs. we tax them at the level he is talking about, that will give us enough revenue for one week. what about the other 51 weeks? let's get serious, mr. present. put a proposal on the table. we have to avoid this tax court. gerri: to that point, the president is asking for

$1.6 trillion in new revenue. when you make of th? is the number that the gop and house republicans can stomach? >> the democrats couldot stomach that either. even in the white house, they suggest that raising taxes is going to create more jobs. it has been going up com the economy is slowing down. we have 47.1 million americans on food stamps and we need to be focusing on growing the economy and not raising taxes. the one i hear what you're saying. i understand wht you're saying. but the rest of america may not agree. 51% of americans say that we will go over the fiscal cliff. when they talk about who is to blame, guess who they blame? they blame the gop. 53% blame your part for taking the country over the fiscal

cliff. when you say that? >> i'm not worried about that. i'm worried about aborting this fiscal cliff. the same decision based president two years ago. and he agreed to extend what is now the bush and obama tax rates. particularly for small businesses, it is critical that we don't raise their taxes when we are asking them to create jobs. the american people and the election did not give them a mandate to raise taxes. gerri: that is the source of the huge disagreement. >> at the end of the day, they returned a strong majority to the republicans had a house where they gave the president a narrow 51% margin of victory. that is not a mandate. most folks that were polled do not want to raise taxes to reduce the deficit. that is pretty clear.

what they want to do is make sure that we have more jobs. gerri: one more question. john boehner, he said it's going to take a long time to work this out. let's keep in mind here that will cost every american family $3500. what can you do by december 31? >> well, we can pass the republican bill that came through the house that is sitting in the senate. the economy is still going the wrong way. we have more americans on fd stamps than ever before in history, and all he wants to do is talk out raising taxes.

gerri: congressman cummings a pleasure to talk you tonight. thank you for coming on. >> absolutely. gerri: president obama pushing his tax agenda. but who didn't earn a seat at the table? small busiss. big mistake, mr. president, that's what my next guest says. he is the president of the american business week. welcome to the show. it is great to have you here. i was shocked. we have all big fortune 5 companies going into that room. the missing players were walll street, and also small business. >> i would tell them that einstein says we can't solve problems by using the same kind of thinkin. obama went to big businesses a couple of years ago looking for solutions and couldn't find any.

you are right. small businesses are responsible for 90% of the new jobs. the net new jobs. we need to look for infrastructure spending to support these businesses. i predict that president obama will try to dismantle the small business administration and help small businesses -- i would say within six months. as opposed to helping small businesses like he should be doing, i think he is going to harm small businesses. gerri: you think you'll be missed? what is your evidence? >> well, he has a bill in congress to allow him to combine agencies. for 30 years, anytime someone wants to close this, they have one solution. the commerce department. they are the federalgency for fortune 500 firms.

it is for all businesses. it is a federal law that says 20% of all government contracts for small businesses. the big rporations have been lobbying to close it because they want the money. it's over $200 billion of per ar. i predicted he would do that in 2008. gerri: we will keep our eyes open. i want to talk about the taxes that we have coming up in the fiscal cliff, which is where we started and what was discussed today with big business. here's what happens to small businesses and for tax hikes happen. first of all, we ipe out 710,000 jobs. hundred 10,000 jobs. in gdp jumps by 100 and change. is this sustainable? we know we are having financial

problems. >> my idea is that every corporation in america, particularly fortune 500 corporations, pay a minimum tax rate that is half the maximum tax rate. half of what the taxpayers are expected to pay. there was a story posted in august which of the 10 most successful corporations in america paid an average tax of 9%. ibm paid 1%. as opposed to raising taxes on the public, it is more appropriate to pay a fair share of their taxes i corporations. gerri: lloyd, thank you for coming on tonight. great to hear from small businesses. we didn't hear from them earlier in the day. >> thank you. gerri: here's our our question tonight. this president obamacare about

small business? la mancha gerriwillis.com. vote on the right-hand side of the screen. i will share the results at the end ofhe show. >> coming up on "the willis report." more unintended consequences fecting your tax return. doug flynn discusses another blow if congress doesn't act soon. in a state owned utilities ceo calling it quits after feeling americans left without power after superstorm sandy. we will bring you the latest later. also, christmas is just around the corner. if you haven't booked a flight yet to grandmas, don't fret. affordable last-miminute hol

gerri: well, the irs. issuing a warning that if congress doesn't act soon to address the fiscal cliff and the alternative minimum tax hats, tens of millions of us could be hit with a very large tax bill. we also might not be able to file later. so expect major delays. my next guest is doug. i can't get over this whole story. we have a fiscal cliff. the amt is just a small part of that. but the irs is saying that we are going to change or computer programs because wreally don't know what's going to happen. it could be chaos out there. >> they are expecting that they will find a patch. gerri: the past means they don't have to pay this. how many people would be on the hook, and what would it mean for them? >> there about 4 million people that are effective, that would go up to 30 some odd million people.

about 20 million people would not be thrust into this. and if you remember, this is going back to 1959 and 1970 for 155 people, that's what they wanted wanted to get some of it working in a taxes. gerri: this was where the richie rich people. >> they are saying if you are expecting a refund, yore not going to get it. it's something we have been telling clients for years. we are getting a lot of revisions every year. you can't can file your tax return in february or march this is going to be more people who are expecting not money and just will be lucky if they can file by april based on how this is going. gerri: let's talk about the bottom line. if you have to pay amt, it means that you pay more money. >> that's right. gerri: your taxes are higher.

but how much? >> what happens is they are saying that with your deductions and income, you are expected to pay this or that. then there is a separate tax return that you have to do. gerri: it's not just the amt at the end of the year, capital gains tax, all of this changing. were you telling your clients? >> well, most of the calls that we are getting are all about the spending. you realize that even if you get all of this money, let's say that they don't come together, the wind and sand is drawn and they're not going to do with anything, and everyone has to pay this on average, they are going to raise about

$100 billion. it's still only gets you so far. $3700 to an average famly. that is no longer there. it is real money or people. gerri: don't pay your taxes early expecting to get your refund early. beware of the amt. you have to check for. you have to make sure. >> the difference is 4 million or perhaps 30 some odd million people. gerri: the irs doesn't care. they're not running the computer programs to do it. >> why would you make to programs and switch from one anher? gerri: thanks so much, doug. a lot more to come. including the blackout on long island. 225 weeks after hurricane sandy. the power company is controlled

by the government. i will break it down. plus, an all-star panel weighs for many, nexium helps relieve heartburn symptoms caused by acid reflux disease. osteoporosis-rated bone fractures and low magnesium levels have been seen with nexium. possible side effects include headache, diarrhea, and abdominal pain. other serious stomach conditions may still exist. talk to your doctor about nexium.

gerri: in washington, the debate over the fiscal cliff between republicans and democrats. it is really about the role of government. how big should it be? how much of our lives should it control? if you have any questions about the effectiveness of government, look no further than the long island power authority.

the authority authority is one of some 2000 publicly owned utilities serving 46 million americans. the board of directors call the shots. the members are chosen by new york's governors. it has called attention to itself in the wake of hurricane sandy and not in a good way. getting the lights back on in hard-hit long island has been a bust. that is according to most sources. the performance was not prepared >> i think they were noncommunicative in the response. i think they're noncommunicative nets actually exacbated the situation. you know, people understood and just tell me the facts. tell me one.

tell me how. give me an idea. gerri: it's hard to argue with that. two days after the storm, an overwhelming 1.1 million customers without power. five days later, power was restored, but just to 6000 people, leaving another half million without power. less credit than on. 46,000 people have electricit i can't tell you how many people i work with live onine island to say that they felt like they live in a third world country. last year's tropical storm iren left 520,000 people without power on long island for five days. to be sure, you details are emerging that shed light on just how troubled this authority is.

news reports reveal a company hampered ba crony laden board of directors and one that often fails in its efforts to communicate. suggests customers download information from their website. they don't have any electricity to fire up their computers. sean agrees that life is incompetent, clueless, not utilizing their resources correctly. they have failed. end of story. ironically, the company was formed by mario cuomo.

as we just showed you, calling for an investigation post- hurricane sandy. three spots on the board unfilled. in fact, would we blame for its shortcomings? government. government isn't the solution to this problem or others. it makes me queasy to think about health care being next on the list. when we come back, more on the incompetence of the long island power authority as residents and lawmakers want me wanted to tell their side of the story on what needs be done next. don't go away with the spark cash card from capital one, olaf gets great rewards for his small business! pizza! [ garth ] olaf's small busins earns 2% cash back on every purchase, ery day! helium delivery. put it on my spark card! [ pop! ] [ garth ] why settle for less? great sinesses deserve great rewards!

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gerri: breaking news tonight. "the wall street journal" reporting eric schneiderman has opened an investigation of utility companies handling of hurricane sandy.

both the long island power authority and con edison were issued subpoenas. almost three weeks after hurricane sandy wreaked havoc on the east coast, long island power authority's chief operating officer stepping down, calling harsh criticizing for customers and politicians for the slow response to the storm. so could new york city have been better prepared? we have invited them on our show and they declined. here the way and is chairman of the oversight committee in new york on long island. and congressman bob turner representing the borough of queens and brooklyn. and the manhattan institute scholar who has been studying this issue. matthew, i'm going to start with you. you are right in the crosshairs of what is going on here. we just announced breaking news

tonight. the new york attorney general going to be launching an investigation. do you think that will have that effect? >> it is no surprise. i don't think it will uncover anything that is earth shattering. i think we pretty much know what occurred. i have seen many documents before leaving up to this. in fact, that was part of my morning several years ago that we were unprepared for a major storm such as this. >> and that was confirmed by a separate psc order he might come as much am i want to turn to you. you lost your house in the storm. i think a lot of people don't realize what a mess it is here in the new york area. how are you doing, had recovered. i understand that no one was hurt. >> we are scrambling. most of the community where i live, which is about 2700 homes, will have to be abandoned from

three to six months. in some cases, the rebuilding will be longer. i think that the schneiderman investigation is a good idea. i've expanded to see how responsive and prepared our government agencies are. beginning with the governor. and i think there is a lot of finger-pointing and a lot of blame it tends to be going around here. we ought to spread it out a little bit and really get to the bottom of this. gerri: i have to tell you that i have heard mayor giuliani say that people -- what could we have done earlier? we could have staged water and generators and food. nicole, i know you have been studying this carefully. you have been looking at this. where did they go wrong? >> speaking of what we could have done earlier, we could've done something a quarter of a

century ago and this is important for the rest of the country. it shows what bad decisions politicians make now and how it matters in the future. why did the state create this government agency to bail out a private utility? gerri: that's exactly what happened. >> a long story that they had made some mistakes. this government, state government chose to bail out the private bondholders and shareholders of this utility. why haven't they been able to bury the power lines? because they are still paying for a good deal of this bailout. that is something that people need to understand because it matters. gerri: it matters and what is interesting, when you look at the history of this organization, this is an organization backed with cronyism in government. at the end of the day,o you have faith in the leadership they can actually overcome this problem? >> well, i don't think they demonstrate that they have been able to do it to this point in time. and i don't think that they have demonstrated that theheeded the lessons learned from other

storms. part of the problem is the basic organization. it is organized like no other public utility in the country. it contracts out, most of its operating activity, they perform most of the operational work, maintaining. >> why do you leave that middle layer anyway? if someone is doing the work, when we have the authority? it makes no sense to me, matthew? >> exactly. it should have been established as a full-service municipal utility, like the 2000 other government utilities in the country. being responsible. gerri: i see them as a monopoly and i'm not sure they should be privatized. congressman turner, over to you.

you have probably seen government response to a number of catastrophes in the past. how would you rate governments response from the new york area to hurricane sandy? >> they are getting their act together now. it was either the police and fire or sanitation, beyond that, nobody else was really there. it was private citizens forming a block association, refugee centers, food centers, all of this was done by individual people throughout the boroughs of brooklyn. it took the government a long time to get the services and food and medicine and etc. gerri: we are talking weeks. whenou look at this, how would you rate governments requirements? >> they just point out what was working for and what wasn't

working. it's no surprise that ste agencies, city agencies that were working before, the mta and nypd, whether it's lifo where the city housing authority -- that is exactly what were seeing here. the. gerri: matthew, i just have to point out. one of the comical things -- people who have no power, they said if they wanted help, they needed to go online and download something from their website. this is the kind of thing that sends people over the edge. how can they be so bad at communicating? >> well, you are communicating in tropical storm ivan. that was discovered and conducted by the psc. in a the remedial effort, they put so much emphasis on social networking, the capability of

social networking company failed to tell people that they wouldn't be getting information that they wanted. namely when were they going to be in the store. you can have a good communication network set up. but you have to have infrmation gerri: even the online map, if you do have power, they were out of date made no sense. the frustrations just piled one upon the other. congressman cohen i will let you have the last word. what you see is a way to improve the situation here? for all over the country, as you know, the response is always difficult. >> the most critical and life-threatening situation is the communications in the last few days. if there is a lesson to be learned, we have to figure out

how to solve that problem. gerri: we have a long way to go. what a great panel. thank you so much for coming on. congressman turner, matthew and nicole, greet guests and thank you. meanwhile, nancy pelosi from the top democrat in the house that she is staying on as the minority leader for at least two more years, which means we can look forward to more great insights and commentary on american life and politics. like the ones which make up tonight's top five. at number five, let's call it the pelosi stimulus. >> let me say that this money will be spent quickly and will inject demand into the economy and his dog created and creates job faster. >> in terms of what we have to do in the first 100 days,

500 million people will lose their jobs each month until these economic packages have. gerri: she said that that is more than one occasion. number three. >> we were not told that any of these other enhanced interrogation methods were used. gerri: interesting. and the cia chief said otherwise.

>> we have to pass the bill to find out what is in it. away from the fog is a controversy. gerri: she is, of course, talking about obamacare. still to come, and one for online investors. a week to go before thanksgiving. it's time to start thinking about going home for christmas. tips for travel after the break service would yochoose,

based on this chart ? don't rush into it, i'm not looking for the fastest answer. obviously verizon. okay, i have a different chart. going that way, does that make a difference ? look at verizon. it's so much more than the other ones. so what if we just changed the format altogether ? isn't that the exact same thing ? it's pretty clear. still sticking with verizon. verizon. more 4g lte coverage th all other networks combined.

gerri: thanksgiving is around the corner. before you start carving up your turkey, you might want to start planning your christmas vacation. deals are getting snatched up and prices on the rise. here are our expert travel tips and advice. it is great to have you on the show. thank you for coming in tonight. let's start with 95% of travelers. will this same trend, will that may be oing home for christmas as well as thanksgiving? >> it was nearly split 50/50 with drivers versus flyers over the holiday. it might differ over christmas.

that's what we are seeing over thanksgiving. gerri: are the flights will go up from here? will they be higher or lower? >> unbending igher. gerri: well, you might be right. year-over-year, compared to christmas 2011, we are seeing the average airfare is up by about 8%. so they might be slightly higher than what you're seeing over thanksgiving as well. gerri: can i still get a good deal going home? >> maybe not some fancy pants deal, but the prices are going to go out. book on the off peak days. the busiest and most expensive travel days over christmas are going to be saturday and sunday, the 22nd and 23rd. and then return flights on the 26th, the day after christmas.

those are the ones we are seeing is the most volume from the highest prices. you can avoid those days, that's going to be a bust on getting a deal. gerri: what about flying on the holiday itself? without thanksgiving day? nobody is at the airport. you get to where you want to pronto. is that a good strategy in your view? >> it's a great strategy. for thanksgiving, for christmas, for new year's, traveling on the day. we do see more flights out on christmas day in the afternoon. a lot of people spend their christmas morning at home. they leave christmas afternoon before their vacations. so if you are willing to travel on christmas morning, can find a lot of empty flights. gerri: all right, let's say that i am going to maybe have a nice beach time for myself instead of seeing the family. where can i find a really good deal? >> well, there are some destinations even over the holidays. hawaii is actually one of them.

think about the big island. this is where we are seeing a little bit less demand this year. really great airfare prices going to hawaii over the holidays. also, colorado. this is one of those mainstay holiday destinations. kids under 12 or so lipinski for free. the key is that there is no blackout dates. would you see a lot wh promotions. you can use that over your vacation. finally, phoenix. if you want to go somewhere warm, but you want to avoid all the crowds on the beaches, this may not be what you think of first and foremost for christmas vacations. gerri: we mention the golf courses. thank you for coming on tonight.

still to come, my 2 cents "two cents more". and a warning for investors. e*trade and others like it may be charging hidden fees hey, travis... get some friends, loser!

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gerri: in tonight's tech connect, they spoke stock higher today. i know, it's a shocker.

nearly 12%, after falling. shares in the company were freed up for sale. the stock is still a let down for investors with its much-hyped ipo. that is for preventing insiders are selling the stock. on to more important news for online investors. over 17 million investors are overpaying. more than $1.8 billion every year. joanna pratt, vice president of financial markets. thank you for coming on the show. this is important news come you guys have conducted a big study of all the online major brokerages. how is it that you believe so many of these investors are wasting their dell remapped. >> well, thank you for having me. we did a big study, and what we

found is that people don't really do a lot of homewk before choosing online for a purge. instead, they rely on the talking baby commercials. and really on the recommendations of friends. at you end up with -- i'm sorry? gerri: go ahead. >> will we end up with is people paying nine or $10 for basic equity trades when the reality is there are more than 70 different online brokerages out there. virtually all of which can do the same thing for only 1 dollar or $3. gerri: this is what i really want to zero in on. the range of prices you can pay, take a look at this, a speechwriter will charge you 99 cents for a trade. if you go to e*trade, it's $9.99. charles schwab, $8.95. why are there such different and

huge varieties in trades when any consumer can simply look this up and find the cheapest one? >> picture does a lot of people just don't bother to look it up. the reality is that schwab and e*trade, they each spent an average of more than $200 million a yr on advertising that gives consumers a real sense that they are sirs brokers. the truth is that interactive brokers have been around since 1977, they have over 200,000 customer accounts and they are a very serious brokerage and the only charge a dollar trade. so that's a great alternative. gerri: another thing that people like to talk about is charles schwab ithe 10 seconds, e*trade, -- if you care about that kind of income and the execution is really quick. and investing in online brokerage deals.

there are bonuses he can get. e*trade has bonuses of 50 to 5500, cash bonuses, ameritrade giving out $100 or $600 in cash bonuses. charles schwab will give you a free and short of it with an initial deposit. they are really paying off for these accounts. there must be a lot of competition. do you see a shakeup comig? >> not necessarily. most of the consumers that we talked to seemed pretty happy with e*trade and ameritrade. i think it is really a sense of trust. you see the baby commercials. if you like all your friends are treating her. so we really don't see anything in the short run to change things. they have a good thing going and they will probably continue it. gerri: all right, thank you for pointing out the differences in costs. it is very important to our viewers. we will be right back with my "two cents more" and the answer to the question of the day. does president obama really care about small-business? stay with us [ male announcer ] how do you trade?

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gerri: those in attendance were leaders of big corporations. why weren't small-business leaders invited? we ask a question on gerriwillis.com. as president obama even care of small business? 3 percent said yes. 97 percent said no. be sure to log on to gerriwillis.com for online question every take. some days we don't get to your e-mails, but we will today. when a bomb attacks over -- to cover i have a job. now i've been unemployed for 25 months. look to the obama administration to lay out several new taxes' impact in the middle class that were suppressed during the campaign. a vehicle mileage tax and a value added tax, carbon energy tax. i hope you're wrong.

finally, since obama comes from chicago i think he brings chicagos dirty politics to the nationalstage. there prove my point. we love hearing from you. send me an e-mail. and finally, cash-strapped new york state taking a ridiculous approach to the dmv. the state has tentatively chosen the highest bidder, not the lowest among the highest bidder temperatures driver's licenses, a canadian company. it gets worse. the company can only provide black-and-white photos, and not done. if approved the contract we will cost the state $38 million more than the next operator. still losing vendors and of the company that has produced a license for new york for the last 16 years. they're protesting the award. this takes outsourcing to a whole new level. again, maybe black and white license photos will look better. that's my "2 cents more."